India openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put on a record 140-run partnership after Afghanistan skipper sent Kohli's men to bat first. Afghanistan bowlers pulled things back for three overs before a few timely boundaries from KL Rahul helped India post 85/0 at the halfway stage. Soon after, the duo brought up their 4th T20I century stand and Rahul also brought up another half-century. The Indian openers then went on to add 140 runs for the first wicket, a new record for India in T20Is, before Karim Janat dismissed Sharma on 74. In the end Hardik and Pant's quickfire batting powered India to a huge score.
After winning the toss, Nabi said that Sharafuddin Ashraf comes in for a retired Asghar Afghan with Mujeeb Ur Rahman still unavailable. "Last game there was a lot of dew in the second half. We always prepare for both, but today we'll bowl first because of dew. We'll play normal cricket and go and enjoy. "India skipper Virat Kohli said that Suryakumar Yadav has recovered from his back spasms and replaces Ishan Kishan in the playing eleven. He added that Ravichandran Ashwin comes in for Varun Chakravarthy, who is out due to a niggle." Firstly there's no denying the fact that the situation is a tricky one. Having said that, there's still a chance. We as a team will look at the chance and try to play positive cricket. We know we haven't played up to potential whatever the reasons might be - need to brush that aside. Would have bowled first. But it's not a bad thing against a side like Afghanistan who look to put up runs on the board," said Kohli.
